The Probability Of Miracles

The Probability of Miracles is a young adult romance by Wendy Wunder. It was published in 2011, the first of two novels by Wunder.

The main character of the novel is Cam Cooper, a sixteen-year-old girl with a troubled life. Cam grew up just outside Disney World, where both of her parents worked at one of the attractions. It was a relatively carefree childhood that made Cam a cheerful and imaginative child. However, all that changed when a series of tragedies struck Cam’s family. First, her parents divorced, followed soon after by the death of her father. Most shocking of all, Cam was diagnosed with neuroblastoma, a rare cancer that has low survival rates.

As the novel opens, Cam has spent the last seven years in and out of hospitals. The grueling procedures have taken their toll on her personality, making her bitter and cynical. She retains her sense of humor, but it is dry and sarcastic, which makes Cam somewhat off-putting to others her age.



She does have one close friend in the form of Lily, a girl with the same cancer as Cam. Lily is involved with a boy named Ryan who is also dating another girl. He confesses to Cam that he doesn’t see the point in breaking up with his current girlfriend to be with Lily because of Lily’s low chance of survival. Ryan’s caddish behavior as well as the readiness of Cam’s mother to hop between different men has given Cam a very poor opinion of love and romance.

One day, Cam and Lily make “bucket lists” of things they want to accomplish before they die. Cam treats the task with sarcasm, listing only the negative things that she thinks teenagers do. Some items on her list include petty shoplifting, losing her virginity in a one-night stand, having her heart broken, and getting drunk. She does not actually intend to accomplish any of these negative experiences, but by the end of the novel she will have done all of them.

Cam’s cancer returns and the doctors decide that further treatment would not improve her quality of life. This is when Cam’s mother has the idea of taking Cam to a small town in Maine called Promise, where miracles are said to occur. Cam is not excited about leaving Lily, but agrees to the trip. She, her mother, and her little sister Perry depart.



In Promise, she meets a young man named Asher. Asher is a handsome athlete who takes a liking to her. Both of Asher’s parents are dead, having been killed in an accident after leaving Promise. Asher is secretly afraid that if he ever leaves town he will be killed, as well.

Cam and Asher attend a party on an island near town. It is a wild night during which Cam checks off many of the items on her bucket list, for better or worse. She drunkenly loses her virginity to a boy named Alec, though the experience is not entirely pleasant for her. However, it does help cement her romantic feelings for Asher.

Throughout all this, Cam still refuses to believe that Promise is magical or that miracles happen there. Both her mother and sister want badly to believe, and so Cam concocts a couple of schemes to help them. She plants flowers in her mother’s garden to make it appear that it has grown overnight, and ties a horn to a donkey so Perry will think it is a unicorn.



At this point, Perry confronts Cam, angrily reminding her that she is not the only person affected by her illness. Cam’s mother, Perry, and all of Cam’s friends are also suffering, more because of Cam’s negative attitude than the effects of her cancer.

One day, Cam tries to call Lily, only to receive the news that she has died. Cam tries to commit suicide, but she is found in time by Asher, who calls for help. As Cam recovers, Asher asks Cam to start dating him. A package comes from Lily in the mail which includes Lily’s own bucket list. The only item not crossed off is “find true love” which makes Cam sad until she realizes that she has found love with Asher and should enjoy it, if only to honor Lily’s memory.

Cam knows that her symptoms are getting worse and she will not live much longer. She encourages Asher to leave Promise and fulfill his dreams. He is angry at Cam for trying to push him away and storms out. A ghost appears to Cam and urges her to call Asher back so that he can be with her as she dies.



As Cam’s symptoms worsen, she must leave Promise to be admitted to a nearby hospital. She says goodbye to her family. Asher shows up just in time so Cam is able to say goodbye to him as well. She is taken to the hospital, where she dies peacefully.